


Happily Ever After

by Snugglebuttkitten



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien isn't the bad guy this time, Akumatized Marinette Dupain-Cheng, All The Lila Hate, Chamelon Episode Rewrite, Chat Noir is Just Along For The Ride, Comedic Angst??, Everything Else is Comedic Angst, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Retellings, Free Chat 2019, GUYS, Gen, Guuuys, He Did Literally Nothing Wrong, He Just Got Sucked Into Lila's Punishment, He didn't do what he did in the episode, How Do you tag!?, I Really Hate Lila, I can't tag to save my life, LITERALLY, Me Just Hating on Lila, More than Chloe and Hawkmoth combined, Mostly MariChat, Poor Chat Noir, Reveal Fic, Saltinette Fic, Screw Marinette's Classmates in Chameleon, Season 3 Spoilers, The First Chapter is Real Angst, Theres a lil Adrienette in there, They were all #terriblefriends, This is crack, but seriously, i guess?, jealous marinette, salt fic, send help
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-10-17 15:20:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17562989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snugglebuttkitten/pseuds/Snugglebuttkitten
Summary: Marinette has been abandoned and tossed cruelly aside by her so-called friends in favor of the new girl, a compulsive liar named Lila! What would have happened if Hawkmoth had succeeded in akumatizing Marinette during the Chameleon Episode





	1. The Birth of Fairytale

**Author's Note:**

> Another version of Akumatized Marinette xD I have several (Black Widow being my favorite) but I have a mild obsession with fics based off of the Chameleon episode and follow several... and I have been wanting to write my own to add to that for a while but could never come up with the right story. Well, tonight that story finally came to me (or last night as it were because I've been writing for about six hours now, maybe seven) and I just had to write it before I lost it. Love You Eternally will still be my top priority but this shouldn't be a long fic so I will try to update it somewhat regularly.
> 
> That being said, before I resumed writing fanfiction, I did start Roleplaying again and so I split my time before writing on that site with friends and writing my fanfictions so there might be times when I'm more focused on roleplaying than I am on fanfiction and vice versa... so if I randomly disappear for a bit... that is most likely why.

Marinette felt like she was suffocating. There was a lump in her throat that wouldn’t go away, and what felt like a pocket of air in her chest cavity that pressed heavy against her heart and lungs and made taking in air a hardship. To make matters worse, her brain throbbed painfully behind her eyes and her eyes feel dry and itchy from her tears. If she had known how this day would have turned out, she would have stayed home from school. She wished she were home now, safe and warm in her cocoon of blankets with only Tikki and her beloved Cat body pillow for company. Instead, she was sitting in a grimy stall of the locker room bathroom, knees pulled tight against her chest atop the toilet and arms wrapped around them to hold them in place. She sniffled miserably and tried to figure out exactly where her day had gone wrong and what she might have changed to make it better. Now that she thought about it… things had been fine up until she had arrived at school that morning, early for once, and found the seats switched around… wanting the distraction from her current misery, Marinette allowed herself to be sucked into the memory that was only a few hours old, but which felt like a lifetime ago.

 

**Four Hours Earlier**

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief as she skidded to a halt outside of Madame Bustier’s classroom, pausing to catch her breath as she spared a glance at her phone to check the time. Already at school and with three minutes to spare before the bell, no less. Considering her track record in the past year of being Ladybug, the fifteen-year-old student was sure that had to be some sort of record. Pleased with herself, Marinette entered the classroom and immediately paused as she noticed that something wasn’t quite right with the picture before her. It only took a moment for her to pinpoint exactly what had changed. The seats had been switched around! Most notably, her best friend Alya was now in  _ her _ seat, while Alya’s boyfriend Nino was in  _ Alya’s _ old seat and the spot next to Adrien, dreamboat supermodel and the current object of her affections, was most definitely empty. Marinette’s jaw dropped as a thrill of both excitement and nervousness raced up her spine.

So far, no one had noticed her entrance as they were too busy talking to their new tablemates, so the ravenette decided to take the opportunity to sneak around the room, going the long way so as not to draw the attention of Adrien. She finally made it to her friend’s side, only stumbling a little down the stairs, and leaned close to ask in an excited whisper, “How’d you pull this off Alya? You’re the best! I can’t believe you got everyone to swap seats so that I can sit next to Adrien!” She exclaimed, before pulling back and frowning as her overactive imagination began to run away with her. “Then again it might not be the best idea… It could keep me from paying attention in class, and if I failed it would be a total disaster because then Adrien and I would never have our own house… and three kids… and a hamster named-”

“Woah, girl, what are you talking about?” Alya interrupted, holding up a hand as if to physically stop the flow of word vomit falling from her best friend’s mouth. “You’re not sitting next to Adrien, your seat is over there,” she said with a concerned frown, twisting and nodding towards the vacant table in the very back of the room.

“At the back!? Why? What’s going on?” Marinette asked, eyes widening in shock and she planted her hands atop the tabletop and leaned closer to her friend. It was Nino who answered instead, sliding closer and leaning in to join their whispered conversation… which apparently wasn’t nearly as quiet as she had thought it was.

“Well, since she’s got a hearing issue, there’s no way she can sit at the back of the class, right? Which means that she needed a place up in the front,” he supplied. Alya immediately jumped in to add to Nino’s words, though it made Marinette no less confused as to who they were talking about.

“So to make it work, Ivan sat next to Mylene, Nate sat next to Alix… besides, she came up with the idea of moving Nino here, so now we get to spend more time together,” she said, the pair chuckling softly as they shared a look.

“Who is this  _ she _ ?” Marinette asked, still thoroughly confused, but before either answered, Madam Bustier entered the room.

“Good morning, students! I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, but Lila’s home from her trip to Achu and she’s back in school with us again,” the redheaded teacher explained, gesturing to the door. And in walked Lila Rossi, and life as Marinette knew it suddenly changed drastically.

 

**Present Time**

Marinette couldn’t help the derisive scoff that escaped her at the thought of the Italian transfer student. She hadn’t liked Lila from the moment she had met her, that first day that she joined class right before the whole Volpina incident. Back then, Marinette had gotten this bad vibe off of the other girl, although part of it was likely more jealousy than anything else. Okay, back then it was at least  _ ninety _ percent jealousy. But hero work as Ladybug aside, Marinette was only human and it made sense that she might get a little prickly watching this strange new girl hang all over  _ her _ Adrien! Especially when the blonde boy had looked so uncomfortable the entire time! Naturally, it was up to Marinette to protect the sunshine child’s virtue by following them and ensuring Lila didn’t pull any funny business with her innocent smol bean.

That entire day, Lila had only cemented Marinette’s dislike and distrust of the girl. The way she had stolen Adrien’s book (granted Marinette ended up stealing it too but that was because Tikki had made her and it was for the good of humanity  _ and _ she had returned it to his father), the way she had lied to him about being best friends with Ladybug, the way she had used Adrien’s admiration for Ladybug to lure him to the park! All of these were bad enough but then! Then, she had to go and get Akumatized into Volpina and she almost made Marinette give up her Miraculous by making an illusion of Adrien and dangling him off the Eiffel Tower! The day had, thankfully, been resolved after she had purified the nasty little bug. Lila had disappeared and things had gone back to normal.

Until now; until today when Lila had shown back up. Like before, her classmates had immediately flocked around the Italian girl like preschoolers to a shiny new toy. They oohed and awed over her adventures in Achu with Prince Ali, they ate up her story about saving Jagged Stone’s ‘kitten’ on an airport runway and suffering Tinnitus as a result, and worst of all, when Marinette tried to dispute her claims, her friends had treated her like  _ she _ was the stranger. Like  _ she _ was the one who wasn’t to be trusted. It was as infuriating as it was hurtful. Most of her classmates, Marinette had known since Nursery school, the only exceptions being Adrien, Alya, and Lila. They knew her, had grown up with her. They knew the kind of person she was, or so she had thought. And it really hurt the way they had glared accusingly at her when all she was trying to do was protect them, the way she always did.  _ She _ was their class representative,  _ she _ was the one who bent over backward to go out of her way and help her friends, make them feel special, to cheer them up and comfort them when they were down.  _ She _ was the one who remembered and brought treats for every birthday and every celebration, the one who was constantly making her friends gifts just because, the one who almost never refused a request from her classmates no matter how sleep deprived she was, how much work she had of her own to finish, or how exhausting juggling a double life could get.  _ She _ was the one they had called their everyday Ladybug (and no, the irony was not lost on her), and yet  _ she _ was the one being tossed aside and discarded for the upgraded model.

Marinette had eventually taken the seat in the back, unable to argue against Lila’s tinnitus lie without proof… even though Marinette had actually  _ met _ Jagged and designed an album cover for him and knew without a doubt that a  _ kitten _ would never be ‘rock n’ roll’ enough for the aging Rockstar. Her friends didn’t care about that; they had cast her out like yesterday’s trash and had continued treated her like some evil Pariah throughout their morning classes until Marinette had decided once again to try and make her closest friends see reason. If she could just get Alya and Nino on her side, maybe things wouldn’t look so bleak and so when lunchtime rolled around, she had dragged her friends off to their own table when they would have flocked around Lila like the rest of their classmates… but her efforts had ended up being in vain.

  
  


**Forty-Five Minutes Earlier**

“That’s for you, Lila,” Sabrina’s voice drew Marinette’s gaze from the lunch line, causing the noirette to perk up as she eavesdropped on the conversation taking place a few paces ahead of her at a nearby table.

“Thank you, you’re so sweet,” Lila’s saccharine voice responded. 

“Here’s your appetizer, Lila,” Max added eagerly.

“And I’ve got your main course,” Mylene said.

“I’ll fetch your dessert,” Kim offered, rising from where he was sitting at a table nearby. Lila affected an apologetic look at their classmates seemed to devour like a starving man presented with a feast.

“I’m sorry I can’t carry my own tray,” she simpered, blinking doe-ishly up at the other students surrounding her. She held up one limp wrist, supported by her free hand to further sell the story. “It’s almost impossible with this sprained wrist.”

Marinette was momentarily distracted by Kim ducking into line with a muttered apology to grab Lila’s dessert before turning to her friends once more. With the others completely taken in by Lila’s lies, not was her chance to get through to Nino and Alya. If she could convince her closest friends, then perhaps the others would follow suit in listening to one of their oldest friends and biggest supporters.

“Lila’s totally lying. She made up that whole Tinnitus just so she could sit next to Adrien and her sprained wrist is completely bogus too,” she hissed irritably, turning hard blue eyes upon her best friend. Alya blinked at her in surprise.

“I don’t get it, Marinette. You barely know Lila. Why all the hate?” She asked as Nino began walking off towards Lila and the others. Marinette sighed.

“Fine, I’ll tell you everything,” she said solemnly, grabbing Alya and pulling her along with her. She grabbed Nino, too, redirecting his path to an empty table not far from where Lila and the others sat, but far enough away that their conversation could be kept under wraps as long as they were quiet about it. The trip took their seats before Marinette began. “You remember Lila when she first came to school right after summer break? She was only here for one day and then she left on that around the world trip? Everyone was captivated by her. Something just felt… off to me. So I-” she dropped her voice even lower and cupped a hand around her mouth as she continued, “-followed her.”

“What?” Alya and Nino spoke simultaneously in their disbelief. Marinette nodded and recounted the day she had first laid eyes on Lila, about following her and Adrien and the lies she had told to get the unsuspecting blonde alone in the park.

“She lies with every breath,” Marinette insists.

“Wait,” Nino interrupted, looking concerned, and for a moment Marinette thought she was finally getting through to him until the next words left his mouth. “You eavesdropped on Lila and Adrien? That’s not cool!”

“A good reporter always verifies her sources. Can you prove she doesn’t actually know Ladybug?” Alya asked. Marinette opened her mouth but stopped herself before she could say that yes, she  _ could _ prove it… because she  _ couldn’t. _ Not without admitting that she  _ was _ Ladybug and she couldn’t do that for obvious reasons. Then inspiration struck and she reached for the napkin beside her tray.

“Okay, you want proof she’s lying?” She demanded, balling the napkin up and turning towards the far more crowded table. “Hey, Lila, you forgot your napkin,” she called loudly, calling on her Ladybug skills to throw the napkin across the space between them. Lila reacted immediately, barely sparing the darker haired girl a look as she caught the napkin with her ‘injured’ wrist. Marinette immediately cheered triumphantly. “Aha! See that? It’s obvious she doesn’t have a sprained wrist,” she pointed out. Their classmates gasped, all turning to look at Lila in disbelief and confusion, and for a moment Marinette thought she had finally gotten through to them. Finally, her friends would realize she was right and that things would go back to normal! Lila looked between their classmates, seeming frozen for a moment, before dropping the napkin and clutching her wrist to her chest.

“Ow!” She wailed, earning a concerned gasp from the other students. “Once when I was in India, I witnessed someone getting their eye gouged out by the corner of a napkin. If I hadn’t caught it, this napkin could have injured Max. I didn’t have a choice.” she blinked innocently up at the others, throwing a few more pitiful ‘ows’ in for good measure.

“Lila, you saved my eye!” Max exclaimed, adjusting his glasses and blinking at the girl in astonishment and admiration. “You sacrificed yourself for me.”

“Why wouldn’t I, Max-”  _ Ouch! _ “-you’re my friend!”

“We’ll take you to the nurse's office,” Sabrina added, smiling at Lila.

“Are you proud of yourself?” Mylene sneered, turning to glare at Marinette. Kim was quick to jump in.

“Lila’s in pain even more, now! All because of you!”

“No, no,” Lila protested. “Don’t blame Marinette, she was just trying to give me a napkin! Right, Marinette?” The smile Lila flashed her was sickly sweet. Marinette blinked before growling wordlessly and storming off.

  
  


**Present Time**

It wasn’t right. The way her so-called friends ate up everything the blonde had to say. Especially Alya. Alya who had asked Marinette, her  _ best friend _ , to site her sources but had no trouble taking Lila at her word. Alya who  _ knew _ Marinette wasn’t the type to give into petty jealousy, and yet who was accusing her of jealousy nonetheless. Hadn’t she just suffered through a double date with Adrien and Kagami, all for the sake of putting her friendship with Adrien before her feelings? She had been willing to step back then if it made Adrien happy. This wasn’t jealousy! This was protectiveness over her friend. This was her distaste for liars shining through because Lila was undoubtedly the worst liar she knew and it made Marinette so angry that her friends were so willing to side with a practical stranger over the girl they had been using and abusing for years.

They didn’t see Lila for the snake that she was and Marinette was genuinely at a loss of how to prove herself to her friends. And on that note, why did  _ she _ have to prove herself at all!? She wasn’t the one being a bad friend. They were. She was trying to help and all they seemed capable of doing was treating her like an outcast, a pariah. Did her friendship mean so little to them? Did  _ she _ mean so little to them? Now that she thought about it, when had her classmates ever done  _ anything _ to show they cared. Marinette had always been the generous type. Growing up the daughter of two bakers, it had all started when she first entered school and brought treats from the bakery to share with all of her new classmates. That eventually evolved into her just bringing random treats from time to time to show her appreciation of her classmates and teachers, and eventually led to them being her family bakeries’ honorary taste testers. And then Marinette had discovered a passion for fashion when she was eight. She and her parents had probably spent a small fortune on materials over the last seven years, from yarn to yards of fabric, to sewing machines, repairs, pins, dress mannequins and the like… and most of what Marinette made ended up going to her friends, her classmates, free of charge. Because that was the kind of friend that Marinette was. She gave freely and asked for nothing in return.

Until now, when all she asked was that he friends trust and believe in her… and they couldn’t even do that much. No, now that she thought about it, her classmates had always taken advantage of her. Until Alya, she had never been really close with any of them. She was just the quiet girl in the second row who took the brunt of Chloe’s bullying and who gave her all to her classmates without asking for anything in return. They didn’t value  _ her _ . They valued what she could do for them. The suffocating feeling was back, only this time it was ten times worse and accompanied by a weight that settled heavy in her gut and wouldn’t leave. She felt sick and her skin felt too tight and hot and her tears were flowing freely again, wet and heavy down her pale cheeks.  _ Why _ wasn’t she good enough? What did she have to do to make her friends stop taking her for granted? How could she prove to them that Lila wasn’t who she said she was? How could she prove to them that she was a liar and a bully, who threatened those who defied them in school bathrooms away from prying eyes?

  
  


**Fifteen Minutes Earlier**

Marinette let out another frustrated growl as she glared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Distantly, she was aware she needed to calm herself because volatile emotions were dangerous with Hawkmoth still about, but before she could, the door swung open and she turned to find Lila standing there. Hands clasped over her chest, Lila smiled sweetly at the other girl. “Marinette?” She said, before her eyes widened and she was suddenly approaching the shorter girl. “Oh! Are you crying?”

Momentarily derailed, Marinette mentally shook herself and frowned at the other girl, her voice coming out sharp and unfriendly. “No, I’m not!” Her tone caused the brown-haired girl to stop short, expression shifting into one of insecurity and vulnerability that Marinette didn’t buy for an instant.

“I can sense that you don’t like me,” she said, turning partially away and curling in on herself. “But… I don’t understand why. We barely know each other.” It was a good act, even Marinette could admit that much, but she also knew the snake that lay beneath the surface and she wasn’t buying Lila’s act even for a second. “Don’t tell me it’s because of this new seating arrangement in class?”

Marinette huffed and turned away. “It is,” Lila exclaimed. “You’re jealous because I’m sitting next to Adrien because you would have given anything to sit there yourself,” she guessed, olive green eyes wide with understanding as she turned back to face Marinette. Suddenly her smile shifted into a conspiratorial one as if they were best friends. “You know what? It’s not worth fighting over a boy. You and I can be friends and who knows, I might even be able to help you with Adrien!”

“You and I will only be friends the day you stop lying, Lila,” Marinette shot back, crossing her arms and glaring at the taller girl. Lila gasped, hands flying up before her mouth, but Marinette wasn’t done and pointed a finger at the other girl’s chest as she started to advance. “I can’t prove it, but I know for a fact you don’t have Tinnitus, that your wrist is just fine, that you don’t know Prince Ali because you’ve never even set foot in Achu, and despite what you got Alya to write on her LadyBlog, Ladybug has  _ never  _ saved your life!” She finished with a scowl.

Like a flip being switched, Lila dropped her act and suddenly straightened up with a sly smile. “I only tell people what they wanna hear.”

“It’s  _ called _ lying!” Marinette insisted.

“There’s nothing you can do about it anyway,” Lila scoffed, crossing her arms and smirking at Marinette. Suddenly, it was Lila advancing and Marinette being backed into a corner, and the whole time the brunette wore a look of supreme confidence that immediately unnerved the ravenette. “People can’t resist when they hear what they like to hear. And if you don’t wanna be my friend, fine, but soon you won’t have  _ any _ friends left at all. And trust me, I’ll make sure you never get close to Adrien in class or anywhere,” she threatened. Marinette’s back hit the whitewash cinder block wall and Lila immediately used her arms to cage the smaller girl in. “You seem a little less dumb than the others, so I’ll give you one more chance. You’re either  _ with me _ or  _ against me _ . You don’t have to answer right away. I’ll give you until the end of class today.” With a flip of her hair, Lila stormed off and Marinette hurried into a bathroom stall and slammed the door behind her.

  
  


**Present Time**

“I thought Chloe was evil, but Lila really takes the whole cake!” She growled as Tikki zipped out of her purse. “She’s like a supervillain who doesn’t even need a costume”

“You mustn’t let her get to you, Marinette,” Tikki said, prompting her chosen to lift her gaze.

“If I don’t manage to exploit her lies she’ll ruin my life, Tikki! She’ll turn my friends against me, including Adrien!” Another wordless growl of frustration escaped her as she slammed her fist against the stall wall. Why was this so hard? She did everything for her friends and the moment someone new came along, they abandoned her. Anger was suddenly replaced with hurt and grief and the fifteen-year-old curled in on herself, her tears renewed until Tikki’s voice cut through her sobs.

“Marinette, look out!”

Marinette lifted her head and practically leaped off the toilet in alarm as the little black and purple butterfly phased through the stall door and began fluttering towards her. “Ah! An Akuma!” She yelped.

“You can resist it, Marinette! Hawkmoth’s power only works on people who think there’s no solution to their problems,” Tikki exclaimed as Marinette pushed further back against the back wall of the bathroom stall and further away from the Akuma. Marinette tried to listen to Tikki; she really did. But then she remembered the glares her classmates had shot her; the disappointment and disgust on their faces and the way they had sided with a complete stranger over her. She remembered Lila’s threats, and how this whole situation made simultaneously angered, hurt, and saddened her and suddenly the fight left her in a rush. Reaching up, she removed her earrings and held them out towards her Kwami.

“Tikki, you have to take the earrings and run. Find Chat Noir and tell him what happened,” she whispered. Tikki opened her mouth to protest but Marinette shook her head violently and glared at the Kwami. “ _ Now _ , Tikki! Before it’s too late!” The red and black-spotted Kwami waited for only a nanosecond more before swooping in to grab the earrings and flee the bathroom, just as the Akuma touched down on the girl’s left hair ribbon and her body seized like some invisible force was holding her in place. And then, Hawkmoth’s voice filled her head and it was all she could do to focus on his mesmerizing words.

“Hekko, Fairytale. You have been betrayed and discarded by your friends in favor of a compulsive liar. I can give you the power to rewrite the story your own way, and all I ask for in return are the Ladybug Earrings and the Ring of the Black Cat. Do we have a deal?” The young student smiled as her civilian identity melted away in a cloud of dark magic to be replaced by her new identity. Fairytale gaze gleamed with savage delight as she responded to the man in her head with two simple words.

“Yes, Hawkmoth.” 


	2. A Chance Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of the chapters are gonna be shorter (under 3000 words), the first chapter is simply longer due to setting up the story. Still a few spoilers for Chameleon in this chapter but after this one, the story spins off completely from the episode

Fairytale stepped out of the bathroom stall and crossed the room to the bank of sinks and mirrors against one wall. The person staring back at her seemed at once familiar and foreign. She kind of resembled a mash-up of different fairytales, which made sense when she thought about it. She was wearing an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ style dress, dark blue and knee-length with capped, ruffled sleeves and a black frilly apron. In the center of the apron, there is a broken red heart with a golden crown perched above the left half of the heart. Her stockings are black and gray striped, with sparkly red shoes more reminiscent of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Her hair is still in pigtails, but they’re longer and sharper, the ribbons in her hair extending and crisscrossing the black locks in the way that ballet shoes are tied up. A blood cloak is clasped at her throat like the one Little Red Riding Hood wears, the hood pooling around slim shoulders. Black elbow-length gloves adorn her arms, a gold and ruby bracelet on her left wrist, and black and red fairy wings extend from her back. In her left hand, Fairytale has a gilded gold scepter with a ruby colored orb on top and beneath that, two small golden wings that extend from the main staff.

Finished examining her new outfit, her gaze moves on to the changes her transformation made to her own appearance. As Marinette, she has always been fair skinned but now her skin was as white as snow, her lips ruby red, and her hair was an even deeper black than it used to be, the blue sheen more of a dark indigo now. Her face seems sharper, more angular than it had been as Marinette, but the most drastic change was her eyes. Gone were the ocean blue pools she was so well-known for. Instead, her eyes were as red as blood and her pupils were narrow slits, like snake eyes. She opened her mouth, half expecting fangs and a forked tongue, but no. Her teeth and tongue looked perfectly normal. The designer in her wanted to dwell longer in the bathroom and further inspect the outfit, but the urge to find Lila was even stronger. Lila needed to pay for what she had done to weak, sensitive Marinette, and Fairytale was the one who was going to exact her revenge.

  
  


Adrien sighed with relief as he finally returned to school after yet another uncomfortable meal alone in the enormous mansion dining room. He had decided to head back a little early, eager to spend a few extra minutes with his friends. A rare luxury considering the tight leash his father kept on him. He just needed to drop his bag off in his locker first, having no desire to smell Plagg’s stinky cheese while he was sitting with his friends in the cafeteria. The Kwami’s obsession only seemed to be getting worse and it was becoming near impossible to escape the stench of camembert cheese these days. He wasn’t expecting anyone to be in the locker room, figuring everyone would still be eating, so he was a bit surprised to nearly run into Lila upon entering.

“Hey, Lila,” he greeted, brushing her presence off and immediately turning towards the side of the room that housed his locker. There was a beat of silence before Lila responded, apparently as surprised as he was to see anyone else in the locker room.

“Adrien! We’ll have to figure out when you’re going to help me catch up on all the school work I missed,” she said, catching up as he stopped and turned towards her. Her expression turned flirtatious at her next words and Adrien was distinctly uncomfortable with the way she dragged a finger down his chest, though he was too polite to say as much. “I also heard you play the piano. My Uncle is a great pianist. He wanted to teach me when I was little, but I had to stop playing because of arthritis.”

Adrien was frowning slightly now, watching as she clutched her wrist to her chest and feigned a look of sadness before perking up again. “But when my wrist gets better, I’d love for you to give me some lessons,” she said. Adrien shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to hurt her feelings but also not wanting to be lied to. He knew he had to try reasoning with her.

“Lila,” he began hesitantly, “I’m perfectly happy being friends with you, and I’ll gladly help you catch up on your schoolwork. But… please don’t lie to me like you did last time with Ladybug,” he requested politely. Lila gasped, looking thoroughly affronted at his accusations.

“Ladybug’s the liar,” she growled, eyes narrowing and expression hardening.

“I’m not judging you, Lila,” Adrien was quick to try and appease the rapidly angering girl, not that it seemed to do much good. He decided to keep trying. “But instead of making friends, you’re going to end up turning everyone against you,” he said logically, sweeping an arm out to encompass the school as a whole. “You can tell me if there’s something bothering you,” he offered with a kind smile. “I can help, but you need to be honest with me.”

“Are you trying to be some superhero, lecturing me just like Ladybug did?” Lila sneered, clearly not as receptive to his advice as he had hoped she might be. “Well thanks, but no thanks. Ugh!” Spinning, Lila stalked away, the door slamming shut behind her.

“I’m still if you need help catching up with your schoolwork,” Adrien called after her, rolling his eyes slightly before turning away. He didn’t get two steps before the door to the bathroom suddenly blew off its hinges, forcing the boy to dive for cover or be pelted by rubble. It was fortunate being Chat Noir had granted him rather cat-like reflexes even as a Civilian. Coughing hoarsely in the suddenly dust-filled locker room, Adrien peeked around the corner and yelped, falling back in surprise as he came face to face with an Akuma. He blinked up at her owlishly, momentarily unsure what to do. After all, he was alone and in his Civilian form… there wasn’t much he could do. The Akuma seemed as surprised to see him as he was to see her, the previously dead look in her eyes shifting as her eyes widened.

“You’re not Lila,” she said, blinking her eerie red snake eyes at him and cocking her head. She seemed almost perplexed by his presence in the locker room.

“N-no, I’m not,” he said nervously, not wanting to risk setting her off. If the Akuma attacked him now, he ran the risk of being turned into some sort of brainless zombie and fighting Ladybug. Or getting temporarily zapped out of existence, or really who knows what else. He had no clue what her powers were. The ones where he was out of commission and couldn’t help his partner were always his least favorite fights and he would rather avoid any of the aforementioned scenarios. Luckily, the Akuma didn’t seem overly aggressive in that moment. She was just crouching there by the edge of the lockers, looking at him in a sort of confused, lost puppy kind of way. If he played his cards right, perhaps she would leave him be!

“Did you see where she went?” The Akuma asked with a weary sigh, finally riding from her crouch and shifting her red gaze impatiently around the room. She crossed her arms, a petulant frown crossing her face, and that's when Adrien noticed the scepter. Was the Akuma in there? It was a logical possibility but he would need to wait until Ladybug joined him before finding out. He couldn’t risk letting the Akuma loose in the city. The return of her red gaze to his face suddenly made the blonde realize he had failed to answer her and she was growing impatient. As much as he wanted to point her gaze in a direction that wasn’t towards him, he also didn’t want to endanger Lila so he shook his head.

“No, sorry. I haven’t seen her,” he lied. The Akuma’s eyes narrowed to slits and suddenly she prowled closer, gloved fingers tightening around the scepter’s staff. He swallowed hard as she loomed over him, seeming to search his very soul for the answers he sought.

“Are you lying to me, Adrien?” She asked, her voice becoming several degrees colder. Adrien shook his head rapidly and, after searching his gaze for another moment, she finally backed off with a satisfied nod. “Good. I can’t very well have you be the Prince of my story if you’re a liar like Lila,” she murmured, nose wrinkling. Adrien frowned in confusion. Prince? Story? What on earth was she talking about and what did Lila have to do with all of this?

“Who are you?” He blurted out suddenly as the Akuma turned away, no longer interested in him. He should have let her go and simply transformed but the mention of his name had Adrien burning with curiosity. He had been in class that morning; he had seen their classmates reaction to Lila. They had all enraptured with her… had someone in their class found out her lies and been akumatized because of them? Or did someone from another class have some vendetta against the brunette? Was the Akuma even a student? Adrien supposed his face was well-known throughout Europe so it was possible, but he doubted it. Whoever Lila had pissed off had to be within the school. A student or faculty member. Adrien was burning with curiosity.

The Akuma paused and tilted her head back to blink at him over her shoulder. At least she didn’t seem annoyed by his query; more bored than anything else. “I am Fairytale, the greatest Storyteller in the lands,” she said imperiously, “and Lila will pay for her crimes against me.”

"Who  _were_ you," he amended when she failed to answer his real question.

“Someone weak and pathetic, someone who could not stand up for herself in the face of adversary. Who I was matters not now; it’s who I have become who will reign supreme and prove my worth in the sea of mediocrity that surrounds me,” she sneered. Adrien blinked, startled because that really hadn’t answered his question like… at _all_ … but Fairytale had already lost interest in him and with a flutter of her wings and a wave of her scepter, she was floating through the remains of the locker room doors, off to find Lila and exact her revenge, whatever it might be.

“Thank Camembert she’s gone,” Plagg’s nasally voice broke the boy from his stupor and he blinked out of his gaze to look down at where the Kwami was poking his head out of his book bag. The normally lazy and uninterested cat-like creature looked oddly distressed as he looked at the space the Akuma had disappeared before finally lifting acid green eyes up to his Chosen. “You’re gonna want to transform and get out there quick, kid. Something tells me this is gonna be one of the toughest Akumas you’ve yet to face.”

“What makes you say that?” Adrien asked, but Plagg just shook his head grimly.

“Nevermind that, transform before that thing finds Lila!” The Kwami hissed. Adrien wanted to protest and insist Plagg explain himself, but for once the Kwami was right. Lila couldn’t have gotten far and just because the Akuma hadn’t shown aggression towards him, that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try to harm Lila. he had to hurry and get the brunette out of harm's way before it was too late!

“Alright. Plagg, Claws Out!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, Comment, Comment! I love hearing from my readers and commenting often ensures quicker response times due to the inspiration I draw from your heartfelt words <3


	3. Once Upon A Fairytale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lila still hasn't learned her lesson and the students finally meet our Akuma!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANNOUNCEMENT; Due to growing popularity, I have decided to start a Discord Channel where I will be sharing exclusive updates with my readers such as upcoming stories and updates that otherwise wouldn't be announced. If you enjoy my writing and have a Discord, please join the fun at https://discord.gg/eaDP8PU
> 
>  
> 
> Hope to see you guys there <3

Fairytale floated through the newly demolished entrance of the locker room and paused to look around. Lunch was still going on, so the hall was mostly empty. Only a few stragglers loitered in the upper hall and they were all frozen in terror as they blinked owlishly at the newest Akuma Victim. The Akuma allowed her gaze to flit over them boredly, swiftly confirming that none of them was her target before smiling sweetly and beckoning them closer. The students shared a nervous look and edged away from her instead. This annoyed Fairytale greatly, and with a huff and a roll of her eyes, she strode up to the nearest student. The boy remained frozen in place, eyes widened in terror as he stared up at her floating form. She shushed him in a soothing manner, the gentle smile returning.

“Relax, my pet. I will not harm you. I am simply in need of an army. Would you be so kind as to be a member of my guard?” She cooed, her gloved fingers stroking his face gently. The boy stared into her eyes, mesmerized as her red irises seemed to glow brighter and brighter. His own eyes widened marginally before the light and intelligence seemed to fade from his gaze and he could only stare ahead and nod dumbly in return. Beaming brightly, the Akuma bounced back and clapped her hands.

“Excellent,” she said, lifting her scepter. She settled the ruby orb over one of the boy’s shoulders as he fell into a kneel before her, his head bowed, before moving it to hover over his other shoulder. “I dub thee Red Knight, Chief of my Army. Rise, my pet, and go fetch me the one with the silver tongue,” she commanded, voice losing some of its sweetness at the mention of her enemy. The transformation washed over the boy and when he rose, he was clad in a suit of shiny, blood red armor, complete with a sword. The man snapped to attention, saluting her.

“You can count on me, Lady Fairytale!” He intoned, spinning on his heel and striding down the hall. Fairytale watched him go with a satisfied smirk before turning her eyes on the other students still standing around in horrified silence.

“Now then, who else wants to be in my army?” She purred, eyes once again beginning to glow.

  
  
  


Lila had to forcefully smooth out her facial features before returning to the cafeteria. This wasn’t her first rodeo, not by far. There was almost always one student who saw through her lies and normally it was easy to squash them like the bug they were. Rarely, however, were there two people who saw through her stories and never before had one of those people been the guy she had set her sights on. Lila liked to think that she knew how the male brain worked. Most males wanted a beautiful girl who was vulnerable and in need of rescuing. It was why she had perfected the damsel in distress act. Perhaps she had come on too strongly with her flirting? As far as she knew, Adrien Agreste was not dating anyone. At least, Nino and Alya hadn’t said he was and the boy didn’t seem to pay special attention to any one girl in particular. Even if he were dating someone, it would have only been a matter of time before Lila weaseled her way between them. She had done it before, she could do it again. But no, unless he had some secret girlfriend, the Agreste boy was a free agent. So why wasn’t he falling for her charms? Was it the whole Ladybug incident? That certainly put a damper on things but Lila was sure she should still have  _ some _ effect on him. He was a teenage boy! Teenage boys are supposed to be hormonal horndogs. It made them easy to use and manipulate! So what made this one different.

Pausing with her hand on the handle of the cafeteria doors, Lila thought back on her past interactions with the boy. She was at least ninety percent sure he wasn’t gay… so there had to be some other indicator as to why he shied away from her when she got a bit handsy. Like a ton of bricks, it suddenly hit her. The only time she had ever really held Adrien’s attention… was when she was talking about  _ Ladybug _ . That was it! That was the missing link! Adrien Agreste was in love with Ladybug. This was simply too perfect to be true. All she had to do was convince him that  _ she _ was really Ladybug. It would be hard, after lying and saying that she was a descendant of the Fox Heroine, Volpina, and with Ladybug interrupting them and all… but she could manage. She was Lila Rossi, after all! She had been taking acting lessons since she was a small child, ever since she began to dream of life as a movie star. All the world was her stage, she simply had to use all of the skills she possessed to convince her intended Audience that she wasn’t the Liar he thought she was. This would be her greatest challenge, and her greatest triumph, yet. But first, she needed to deal with Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She needed to sew the seeds of mistrust in the sheep that stupid little girl called friends. And she knew just the way to do it.

Tightening her hand on the door handle, Lila pushed through the door and into the crowded cafeteria, a ragged sob escaping her. The Cafeteria went silent as she hurried past the crowded tables, and she could feel the stares of the other students as she rushed by. Being the center of attention always sent a thrill down her spine and it took a lot of effort not to smile in delight, but she managed. With a perfectly times wail, Lila threw herself back into her seat and buried her face in her arms, shoulders shaking with what the other students thought were great sobs, but was actually silent laughter. Immediately a half dozen hands were rubbing her back soothingly, voices clambering over one another in their effort to find out what was wrong. This was almost too easy. Lila had learned long enough that students were like mindless sheep. Flock mentality was probably even stronger than pack mentality and it was laughable how easy it was to gain their trust and admiration when they thought she was one of them. She was a real wolf in sheep’s clothing and they didn’t even realize it.

“Lila, what’s wrong?” Rose asked in worry.

“Do I need to kick someone’s butt?” Kim and Alix asked together.

“Girl, you have to talk to us,” Alya said.

“Yeah, dudette. Let us help,” Nino added. Lila sniffled loudly and lifted her tear streaked face, shaking her head in denial.

“No, no. I don’t want to cause more trouble than I already have,” she denied quickly.

“Trouble? You haven’t caused any trouble. We all love having you here,” Alya said with a reassuring smile. Lila returned the smile with a watery one of her own. She had this group pegged the moment she had walked into the classroom the first. Time. Marinette was the girl everyone took for granted. They acted like they all appreciated her and cared for her, but at the end of the day, they would find it only too easy to discard her. To get rid of Marinette, all she had to do was go through Alya. Alya was the bold, outspoken friend who was obsessed with finding out the truth. And yet, how easily she devoured Lila’s lies. How easy it would be to turn her on her best friend and with her, the rest would follow like the flock of sheep they were.

“N-not everyone,” she whimpered, wiping at her tears. It was fortunate she always made sure to wear waterproof makeup or she would be a mess of runny mascara right not.

“Girl, if someone’s bothering you, just say the word and we’ll take care of it,” Alya vowed, a dark and protective look coming over her face.

“It… it’s… it’s Marinette,” Lila finally burst out before immediately bursting into a new round of sobs. The table went deathly silent and she could sense the looks being exchanged over her head, but she didn’t drop the act. Not yet.

“Marinette? What about her?” Rose finally broke the silence tentatively.

“Did she say something to you?” Kim asked harshly.

“Sh-she… she threatened me. I… I think she’s jealous,” Lila admitted, wiping her tears away once more to blink guilelessly up at the students surrounding her. “I think she’s mad that I’m sitting next to Adrien, and that you all are paying attention to me and not her,” she admitted. The other students exchanged looks, the seeds of doubt already sewn by Marinette herself.

“That… that doesn’t sound like Marinette,” Rose began hesitantly.

“But- she has been acting weird since Lila arrived,” Mylene hedged.

“Yeah, she has been weirdly hostile to Lila all day,” Kim agreed.

“By my calculations, there is a 99.9% chance that Lila is right and Marinette is jealous of the attention being directed away from her,” Max offered, adjusting her glasses.

“Hey, this is Marinette we’re talking about. She’ll come around,” Alya tried to defend her best friend, but Lila could see the doubt stirring within her hazel eyes and she seized upon it.

“I don’t want to speak badly about anyone, but-” she trailed off and lifted her wrist. The class gasped at the handprint-shaped bruise on the girl’s wrist. There were perks to bruising easily; it made selling her stories all the easier. “I just don’t feel safe with her here… maybe I should just go back to Achu,” she said, bottom lip quivering and eyes filling with tears once more. There was a beat of shocked silence before the other students exploded in chatter.

“That is so not cool!”

“I can’t believe she would do something like that!”

“Do you need to go to the nurse, Lila?”

“I’ll talk to Marinette; set her straight.”

“I’ll go with you; that’s seriously messed up.”

Lila hid her smile behind one hand as the flock plained right into her bright orange talons. They were so easy to trick and manipulate; Marinette would regret the day she had ever messed with Lila Rossi. Dropping her hand, she offered a weak, watery smile at the other students. “You guys are all so nice! If you could just talk to Marinette, convince her to leave me alone, I would be so grateful! All I want is to be friends with-”

Lila never got to finish what she was going to say because in that moment, the double doors of the cafeteria exploded inward. Students shrieked in fear and confusion, most of them diving for cover beneath the tables. When the dust settled, they hesitantly peaked out to find the cause of the explosion. Lila sat up slowly, rubbing her head where she had bumped it on the way down and turned to scowl at whatever had caused her the minor nuisance, but the expression froze on her face as she took in the girl, the Akuma, floating in the newly destroyed entrance of the cafeteria. The whole room became deadly silent.

The Akuma was eerily beautiful in her dark blue, black, and red outfit. The colors stood out starkly against ghostly pale skin, her blood red eyes almost perfectly matching the red lipstick that painted a mouth pulled back into a feral snarl. From behind the Akuma stepped a blood red knight, his armor shiny and his chest plate adorned with the same broken heart symbol that the Akuma wore… except the heart was black instead of red. The knight stepped forward and cleared his throat, despite the room being so quiet, one could have heard a pin drop.

“Hear ye, hear ye! I am the Red Knight, Chief of Lady Fairytale’s army. Lady Fairytale seeks the one with the silver tongue; the one called Lila. Hand her over, and you are free to go. Defy her Majesty, and you will  _ all _ suffer her might,” the Knight announced. Lila blinked fearfully as she ducked further down, sharing alarmed looks with her new classmates. The Akuma was here for her!? What had she done!? From behind the Akuma, who had not spoken a word thus far, more nights spilled into the Cafeteria, immediately blocking off the exits. These nights wore all black armor, the Akuma’s broken heart crest emblazoned on their chest plates in blood red. As soon as the exits were blocked, the Akuma moved further into the room while the Red Knight took up sentry over the main exit. Blood red eyes shifted coldly over the cowering students and finally, she spoke.

“Fear not, little lambs,” she purred, a smile curving her lips that was more a baring of teeth than anything else. “Hand over the liar, Lila, and you are all free to go about your merry, insignificant lives. Now, which one of you would like to tell me where she is hiding, hmm?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let Me Know what you think ;)


	4. The Name of The Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is weirdly adorable as an Akuma especially where her Kitty is involved... but she is also downright terrifying when she's angry. Also, Adrien x Tikki moments are Life and you can't tell me otherwise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am on a roll. The muse is strong with this one, not that I am complaining xD 
> 
> Anyone else catch where I fucking FORGOT a sentence (well, dialogue) when Fairytale was talking to Adrien? Yeah, I fixed that. That was my bad lol. I wrote the first two chapters last night, between probably 10/11 pm to 5 am amidst also playing a game on my phone and watching anime, so sorry for the sleep-deprived typos

Chat Noir leaped onto the railing surrounding the second floor of College Francoise Dupont, green eyes narrowing as he took in the empty courtyard below him. The whole school seemed eerily quiet and vacant. The Akuma had  _ just _ been here. How could she have disappeared so quickly and where was everyone? Had she already used her powers on them/ And if she had, just what  _ were _ her powers? The possibilities were technically endless and that didn’t sit well with Chat. He normally didn’t hesitate to dive into action headfirst without worrying about the consequences, but the way Plagg had acted before transforming, what Plagg had said, made him hesitant to just jump into things. There was something different about this Akuma. He didn’t know what it was (yet) but he was going to figure out what he was dealing with before taking any action for once. First things first, he needed to find his Lady. Hopefully, she had heard of the Akuma and was already en route.

Turning away, Chat Noir returned to the locker room where he hoped the Akuma wouldn’t bother poking around since she had already been there, and pulled out his baton. He quickly hit his partner’s icon. Lifting the weapon/communication device to his human ear, he listened to the ringtone buzz on the other line several times before clicking over to voicemail with a friendly, ‘You’ve reached Ladybug. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you soon!’ Chat growled quietly in frustration and started speaking the moment the beep indicated that it was now recording. “LB, there’s an Akuma at Francoise Dupont and something about her seems off; I need you to get here asap,” he said before finally ending the call and sighing. That hadn’t exactly gone according to plan, but no matter. He would make do regardless. He could scout around, find the Akuma, and watch her from afar and when his Lady  _ did _ arrive, he would be able to give her the lowdown on Hawkmoth’s latest victim. Decision made up, Chat Noir turned to the windows that sat high up the walls of the locker room, but before he could move to leap onto the ledge of one, a tiny voice called out to him from the direction of the bathrooms.

“Chat Noir, wait!” Chat turned automatically, expecting to find a girl hiding from the Akuma, but there was no one there. He blinked, momentarily wondering if he had been hit on his head with rubble when Fairytale blew up the locker room door, but then the voice came again. “Are you alone? No one else can be allowed to see me!”

“Um… yes?” Chat said, making a show of looking around the room to confirm that yes, he was alone aside from the disembodied, unusually high pitched voice speaking to him. Suddenly, a cloud of pink and white sparkles burst to life before his eyes and another  _ Kwami _ materialized before him. The leather-clad hero blinked in shock. He… hadn’t been expecting that. The Kwami looked thoroughly distressed, more so than Plagg had, her wide blue eyes full of worry. She was a cute little thing, bright red all over with big blue eyes and a big black spot on top of her head. Almost like a little… suddenly Chat was just as alarmed as the Kwami looked. “You’re- you’re-”

“Ladybug’s Kwami, yes,” the little creature sighed, her face falling as she zipped up closer to the cat-themed hero. It was then Chat noticed that she was holding something between her little paws; a pair of earrings that were solid black and eerily familiar, even without the magic imbuing them. She was holding… her Miraculous.

“Where’s Ladybug?” Chat managed to choke out, fear and dread filling him as his imagination ran away with him. He could only imagine all the horrible things that could have befallen his Lady for her Kwami to show up before him with the Miraculous in tow, but in all his wild imaginings never could he have imagined the words that escaped her mouth. 

“She’s been akumatized, Chat. I tried to help her, but in the end, she made me take the Miraculous and go,” Tikki whispered, deflating. Chat Noir held out a hand automatically for the Kwami and she gratefully settled upon his leather-clad hand. She looked exhausted, pale, and shaky.

“Hey, are you okay? You don’t look so good,” he fretted, his mind still mostly worried about his Lady, but a small part of him realizing that the Kwami didn’t look quite right. In fact, she looked like she was about to be sick, her pallor paling and her antenna and eyelids drooping.

“Ladybug and I are bonded, Chat. Even when she is not wearing her Miraculous, she and I are two parts of a whole, just as you and Plagg are. I can feel her pain, her fear,” she whispered, a fine quiver starting up in her body and causing her to practically vibrate in his hands. “It’s not like with the other Akuma Victims; because she is Ladybug, she is aware of what she is doing but she has no control over her body or her actions. It’s like… it’s like being paralyzed; watching the world go by without her and being unable to do or say anything. She’s so scared, Chat,” she whimpered.

“To make matters worse, Kwami shouldn’t be able to manifest outside of their Miraculous after a bond is established unless the wearer is actually  _ wearing _ the Miraculous. If the Miraculous is taken off, we are supposed to disappear. Plagg and I can manage for a short amount of time if our bond is strong enough with our chosen, but it is extremely hard to maintain,” she explained, and Chat couldn’t be positive but he was sure she was even paler than when she had first started explaining. She looked more pink than red now, and her black spots looked more like a charcoal gray.

“What happens if you stay outside of your Miraculous too long?” He asked, half worried she was going to die and Ladybug would blame him for killing her Kwami. Perhaps sensing the direction of his thoughts, the Ladybug Kwami smiled weakly.

“Nothing permanent, I assure you, but I can’t promise I will be able to maintain a physical form for much longer before I must return to my Miraculous,” she said.

“So what do I have to do? Ladybug can’t purify the Akuma if she’s Akumatized,” he said, worried as she faded more still. It seemed like a struggle now for the Kwami to keep her eyes open but she was obviously trying to focus on the conversation.

“Y-you must… you must break the Akumatized Item. It's in her left hair ribbon,” she wheezed, struggling to get the words out. “Once you do, you must take her and the Akuma somewhere private where she can transform and purify the Akuma. You’re going to find out her identity, Chat, but that’s okay. I think you two are ready. The only reason Plagg and I don’t allow our Chosens to reveal themselves to one another is that there’s always the risk of one betraying the other. But you and Ladybug share one of the strongest partnerships I’ve seen in millennia. I have faith that you two will manage the reveal well,” she assured.

“You really think so, um…”

“It’s Tikki,” the Kwami gave a weak laugh and flashed the boy a knowing smile, “and fear not, Adrien. Ladybug does love you. More than either one of you realizes,” she said gently, floating shakily up to place a reassuring paw on his nose. Chat Noir blinked, and in a burst of sparkles, the Kwami winked out of existence. When he looked down, the Ladybug Earrings lay in his hand, now red with black spots as Tikki’s magic-filled them. Closing his hand around the Miraculous, Chat Noir took a shaky breath. This… was a lot to take in. Not only would be finding out his Lady’s identity, but he would be taking on his first mission alone since the Evillustrator. It was a bit daunting, but he knew he had to do it. For his Lady’s sake. The faster he got the Akumatized item away from her, the faster he could free her from whatever hell she was locked in. With that thought in mind, Chat shoved her Miraculous into his pocket and zipped it securely before vaulting onto the window sill and slipping out into the midday sunlight.

  
  
  


“Marinette!?”

Fairytale sighed irritably and crossed her arms, pouting like a petulant child as her red gaze shifted from the room at large to focus on her former best friend. The aspiring journalist was standing up beside the tables they had previously been sitting at, hazel eyes wide with shock and horror as she stared at her. The Akuma’s lips twisted into a sneer as her gaze raked over the other students crouched around the table, none of them bold enough to stand up the way Alya had. She easily picked out her classmates, all staring at her with varying degrees of fear and horror, and among them, Lila Rossi was attempting to disappear into the tile beneath their feet. Fairytale smirked and waved one hand lazily, beckoning her Red Knight to her side.

“Beloved pet, see to it that the rest of the flock is escorted out of my domain, but ensure the students at that table remain. We’re going to play a little game,” she purred. The knight snapped out a quick salute and turned on his heels, the other knights immediately following his cues and herding the other students out of the cafeteria. When the room was empty save for the Akuma, her minions, and her chosen victims, Fairytale allowed a smile to play upon her lips.

“Alya, my old best friend. So nice to hear that you still recall my former name,” she cooed, drawing closer to the table. The students rose and tried to back away, but they were immediately seized and held into place by the black knights. The Akuma tsked and shook her head. “Leaving so soon? But the party has just begun! You’ll hurt my feelings if you leave now,” she exclaimed, pressing a hand to her chest and affecting an injured look. Only Alya stood her ground, a look of betrayal on her face.

“Marinette, why are you doing this? This isn’t you. You can’t let your jealousy guide your actions like this. You of all people should know better; there’s a reason Adrien called you our everyday Ladybug,” Alya tried to reason, stepping closer and raising her hands in a placating gesture towards the Akuma. Fairytale’s gaze suddenly turned hard and flinty as she refocused on the girl.

“Marinette is  _ dead _ . My name is Fairytale and you have a lot of nerve saying that to me,” she snarled, her face suddenly shifting into something dark and twisted and so unlike the sweet, friendly girl they all knew and loved. “Where was your faith in your  _ everyday ladybug _ when I tried to show you the truth? Where was your trust in your  _ best friend _ , Alya?” She growled. Alya took a step back, shrinking away from the force of the Akuma’s anger, and suddenly she and the others didn’t look so sure of themselves.

“All I wanted was for you to  _ trust _ me, Alya. To fact check Lila the way you tried to fact check me. Did my friendship mean so little to you?” She snapped, advancing on the frozen fifteen-year-old who now looked completely ashen. Fairytale shifted her gaze away from the girl to rake over the others, all of which looked similarly hesitant.

“Marinette was a poor sap to trust all of you. For years, she has bent over backward to help you as you used and abused her generosity, and how do you repay her? By tossing her aside like yesterday’s trash. Well, now Marinette is dead and reborn as  _ me _ and I will not make the same mistake that she did,” the Akuma continued, floating closer to the group of captive students. She paused beside Rose, her red eyes thoughtful as she stared down into the petite girl’s wide blue gaze. Rose’s lip quivered and under the weight of the Akuma’s gaze, she suddenly burst into tears. Fairytale arched a brow before moving one.

“The lot of you are going to play a game with me,” she suddenly announced, coming to a halt at long last in front of Lila with a cold smile. “I promise, it will be a lot of fun,’ she snickered, leaning closer to Lila.

“What kind of a game?” The silver-tongued vixen sounded scared. Fairytale found that it pleased her greatly, knowing that she was the one causing the girl’s fear.

“The fun kind, where I come out the winner,” the Akuma bounced back suddenly, clapping her hands and grinning widely with a gleeful smile. “Are you all ready to play with me?”

“Wait! Don’t we get to know the rules first?” Nino yelped from his place in line.

“Forget that! I don’t want to play your creepy games. Let us go!” Kim snapped, struggling against his captive’s hold. Fairytale narrowed her snake-like eyes and gave a nearly imperceptible nod to the red knight, who immediately stepped forward and forced the protester to his knees. Kim struggled violently, but he was no match against the supernatural strength of the Akuma’s minions. Tsking softly, Fairytale approached the boy with a shake of her head.

“Now, Kim, that isn’t how you play the game. You have to cooperate! If you don’t, well… my pets don’t like it when people defy their Queen,” she said with a girlish giggle. As if to prove her point, the red knight drew his sword and held the blade against the male student’s throat, hard enough to prove he meant business but not hard enough to draw blood.

“Do you wish me to wish me to dispatch the naysayer, Lady Fairytale? It would be an honor to do so in your name, my Queen,” he offered. 

“Now, now, that hardly seems necessary just yet. Come now, let him up,” Fairytale giggled, shaking her head lightly as if this were all just one big game to her. The knight immediately released Kim and stepped back in line as the student rubbed the angry red mark and glared up at the Akuma.

“You crazy freak, let us go before your minions kill someone!” He snapped.

“Now, Kim, you must abide by the rules if you don’t want to be hurt,” she admonished lightly as the student picked himself up.

“So what exactly  _ are _ these rules you speak of,” a new voice interrupted, prompting the group to turn their eyes heavenward. A figure descended from the skylight overhead, slithering down a silver baton to come to a halt in the center of the cafeteria. Fairytale turned to blink at the newcomer in surprise before a delighted grin lit up her face.

“Kitty! You came to play, too? I’m so glad,” she cheered, bouncing up and down and clapping her hands gleefully. The leather-clad hero looked momentarily thrown-off before his expression returned to one of supreme confidence.

“I’m always up for a game, little lady. So tell me, what  _ is _ this game you want us to play, hmm?” He drawled, shortening his staff so that it was the perfect height for him to lean casually against. The Akuma beamed.

“Well, the game is quite simple, really. Each of you will be zapped into your own Fairytale! Some of you might end up in multiple Fairytales, some of you will be grouped together. Either way, you must all work your way through my storybook. If you make it through  _ all _ the fairytales, you win. But if you fail to escape my book, you get to remain as part of my stories forever and ever and ever!” She said excitedly. A wave of her scepter and a giant tomb suddenly appeared on the table beside her. The cover was purple, the edges and spine gold. There was no title on the front of the book; only the Akuma’s signature crest with the crown over the left side of the broken heart.

“Hmm, that sounds fun. Might I suggest a board game instead? Or perhaps a rousing game of Uno?” Chat Noir asked, green cat eyes shifting to her left pigtail. Before him, the Akuma visibly deflating, pouting as she blinked up at the hero with hurt in her wide red eyes.

“You don’t want to play with me, Kitty?” She asked, bottom lip jutting out as she pouted at him. The hero hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably as the Akuma continued. “But I worked so hard on this game and I really wanted all of you to play  _ with _ me. It won’t be fun if I have to play it all by myself. You won’t make me play it by myself, will you Kitty?”

“Look, Fairytale… how about a compromise,” Chat Noir hedged, not sure how to handle this version of his Lady and hoping to diffuse the situation before it escalated. So far, the Akuma seemed to have no ill will towards him  _ or _ his civilian form. Perhaps he could use that against her!

“A compromise?” She echoed curiously, the distress on her face suddenly morphing to interest. “What kind of a compromise?”

“What if you give me the ribbon in your left pigtail, as a token to your  _ favorite _ Knight, and I’ll play your game in return,” he offered hopefully. Fairytale seemed to consider his offer, fingers toying idly with the end of her left pigtail.

“Hmm, what about if I give you my right ribbon instead?” She offered hopefully. Chat Noir shook his head.

“It has to be the left ribbon,” he said firmly. Fairytale rocked back and forth on her heels as she considered this.

“How do I know you won’t break my ribbon and end my game before it can begin?” She asked hesitantly.

“You have my word, little Lady. I will play your game  _ if _ you hand over the ribbon,” he lied, holding out his hand expectantly.

“Are you lying to me, Kitty?” Fairytale’s eyes narrowed, locking onto his, and suddenly Chat Noir knew he had screwed up. The friendliness and playfulness drained from the Akuma’s face until she was glaring at him accusingly. “You know, I am getting really,  _ really _ , sick of liars,” she spat, her hand tightening on her scepter.

“No, don’t!” Chat Noir lunged at the Akuma, claws at the ready to slice through the hair ribbons, but Fairytale was faster.

“Too late, Kitten,” she purred, lifting the scepter between them. The ruby orb atop the scepter suddenly started to burn brightly with an eerie light, the light growing rapidly to encompass everyone in the Cafeteria. There was a moment when all Chat Noir could see was red, like when you closed your eyes and looked towards the sun… and then the red was replaced with never ending blackness and the hero lost consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! If you have a Fairytale you'd like featured in this story, I am open to suggestions! Comment below and include the Fairytale and which students you would like to be in the Fairytale. Lila's stories should be mostly based on liars and I already have two in mind that she will be featured in ;)


	5. All For One and One For All, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir and the students of Madame Bustier's Class find themselves trapped in a storybook under Fairytale's control. The only way out? Complete all the stories before the day is up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHAPTERS 5-7 ARE ALL UNDERGOING A MAJOR REWRITE. AS SUCH YOU NEED TO REREAD THIS CHAPTER AND THE OTHER TWO WHEN THEY'RE POSTED AS SOME OF THE MAJOR CHANGES INCLUDES A CHARACTER CHANGE FOR ONE OF THE MUSKETEERS

When Chat Noir opened his eyes, he was no longer in the school cafeteria. He groaned, sitting up and rubbing at his forehead. A terrible headache pounded behind his eyes and he felt like he had just been tossed about in a dryer for the last hour, but otherwise, he didn’t seem to be injured. Looking around, Chat Noir tried to get his bearings but he wasn’t in any part of Paris that he knew of. He appeared to be sitting beneath a stone bridge, with grimy cobblestones underfoot. A couple of old crates were flipped upside down to make what he assumed was a table and chairs, but aside from him, the area was vacant. Or so he thought. A quiet giggle from overhead had the hero lifting his gaze and he found himself staring up at the Akuma. She was smaller now, about the size of a porcelain doll, and her wings were just a blur as she hovered above him. She no longer looked angry, the gleeful delight back in her red eyes as she grinned cheekily down at him.

“You make an adorable child,  _ mon minou _ ,” she cooed playfully, tipping her head to the side as she smiled down at him. Confused, Chat Noir followed her gaze and immediately sprang to his feet in alarm, twisting back and forth as he inspected him.

“You shrunk me!” He accused, staring in horror at his newly shrunken body. His formerly five foot ten frame now appeared to be barely four foot even. His hands looked tiny, the fingers pudgier as if he still had a bit of baby fat on them, instead of the long, slim digits that he was accustomed to. His outfit had also changed. He was still in all black, but he was no longer wearing leather. His clothes more closely resembled what you might see a peasant wearing in medieval times, a tattered shirt and trousers (both black), and felt shoes that were a size too big. All of his clothes felt a size too big, hanging loose and baggy around his scrawny frame. His tail was gone, but when he lifted a gloved hand he was relieved to feel his mask and ears still in place. His identity was still safe, at least for the time being. He fully intended on sharing his identity with Ladybug once he discovered who she was, but with her still under Hawkmoth’s control, he wanted to keep that secret tightly under wraps for now. The last thing he needed was Hawkmoth discovering his identity. Fairytale released another giggle and rolled her eyes, clearly amused by his freakout.

“I didn’t  _ shrink _ you, silly kitty. It’s all part of the story,” she said, gesturing around them. Chat looked skeptical, but his previous interactions with this particular Akuma made it clear that playing along was his best bet of getting anywhere.

“And which story is that?”

“The Three Musketeers! One of my favorites,” Fairytale gushed with a dreamy smile. Chat nodded slowly; he was thankfully familiar with the story.

“Okay, so where are my other Musketeers? And where is everybody else?” He asked, looking pointedly around the area.

“Your other Musketeers will appear shortly; I left them in limbo for now. As for your other friends, they will appear in other fairytales,” she said with a shrug, fluttering closer.

“Okay…” he said slowly. “So, what is the point of all this. You said it was a game, right? What are you playing at?” He asked. He was worried the Akuma might be offended by his questions, but she just smiled serenely and answered him.

“My friends were  _ very _ naughty and refused to trust me when I tried to expose a liar. Now, they must pay for their crimes. You were an unfortunate casualty in my revenge, but that’s okay. When I win, we can play together in my storybook forever and ever. Doesn’t that sound fun?” She asked, pigtails rustling as she cocked her head to the side and beamed at him. The black-clad hero was less enthused.

“Um… sure. But what if  _ I _ wanted to win? How would I go about doing that?” He asked. He was certain she wouldn’t answer, but just as before this Akuma seemed perfectly happy to divulge whatever information he sought, so long as he didn’t lie or try to take her ribbon.

“Oh, that’s easy. You have to get through my whole storybook by the end of the day! It’s about one pm, so that leaves you about eleven hours? Easy peasy lemon squeezy,” she said cheerfully, rolling onto her back midair and tucking her hands beneath her head. Her legs kicked lightly, propelling her around in the air as if she were swimming on her back

“Uh huh… and if I get to the end of the storybook, you’ll let us go?” He double checked. Fairytale’s head shifted in what appeared to be an up and down motion, though it was hard to tell from her current position.

“Yup!” She agreed verbally, popping the ‘p’. “If any of you manage to make it through my stories to the end of the book, you’re all free to go and I’ll even give you my hair ribbon,” she said brightly before a sly smile lit up her face and her eyes cracked open to slide his way. “But if you  _ can’t _ get through all of my stories, that means  _ I _ win and you have to hand over your Miraculous,” she singsonged. Chat swallowed hard, hand curling tightly around the ring that thankfully still adorned his finger. Really, he could have lost his Miraculous while he was unconscious. He would have to be more careful from now on. His Lady made for a surprisingly honorable Akuma, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t change her tune if pressed by Hawkmoth.

“Alright, Fairytale, you’re on. If you win, I’ll give you my Miraculous. But if  _ I _ win, you free the students and hand over the ribbon. Deal?” He stuck out his hand and with a delighted smile, Fairytale straightened up in the air and dropped down to hover directly in front of him, her gloved hand sliding into his. Even through the two layers of fabric, her touch was as cold as ice and Chat had to swallow a sudden lump in his throat as the Akuma’s gaze drilled into his.

“May the best player win, Kitty Cat,” she purred with a wink, and then in a poof of smoke, the Akuma was gone and Chat turned to find younger versions of Nathaniel and Kim sprawled out on the cobblestone behind him. He sighed softly.  _ This is going to be a long eleven hours, _ he thought to himself as he set about waking up the two students so that they might get to work.

  
  


Fairytale smirked as she touched back down in the real world, her faithful knights immediately standing at attention upon her return. She ignored them for now, in favor of opening the giant tomb that sat before her on the cafeteria table. Fools, every last one of them, and Chat Noir was the most foolish of them all. Flipping past the first few pages which were all blank, she finally landed on the title page and smiled as she took in the three very familiar figures beginning to interact in the black and white image above the first block of text. Her fingers traced delicately over the words and her mouth opened of its own accord, but before she could speak, her body suddenly seized and the purple butterfly mask appeared around her eyes once more.

“Fairytale, I grow impatient of your antics. You had Chat Noir right where you wanted him; why didn’t you seize his Miraculous!?” He demanded. The Akuma rolled her eyes, retracting her hand from the book and turning partially away as she responded.

“You are too impatient, Hawkmoth. You will get what you want but first, I will have my revenge. Once they are trapped in my storybook forevermore, I will go in and get you what you desire,” she assured. The magical bindings tightened around the girl, becoming so tight that she felt like she was suffocating, before suddenly disappearing altogether.

“See that you do not disappoint me, Fairytale. I gave you your powers, I can take them away,” Hawkmoth snarled before the connection was cut and the Akuma nearly collapsed. Gasping for breath, Fairytale slowly straightened up and returned her gaze to the book, anger coursing through her. She didn’t like the idea of Hawkmoth being able to control her and her powers, but what else could she do? If she pushed him, he would strip her powers and her game would end far too prematurely for her tastes. Furthermore, she would go back to being that doormat that Lila and her so-called friends had walked all over. No, she couldn’t let that happen. She would get Hawkmoth the Miraculous Stones but first... Once again, her fingers traced over the words, although this time they were a tad shakier than before. Opening her mouth, she began to read the words written before her aloud.

_ “Our story begins in the gutter, where poor young street urchins Nathaniel, Kim, and Chat Noir struggle to survive. Zut Alors! Bad guys! Will anyone defend these poor children? Anyone!? Well? Anyone? Aha, the Royal Musketeers! Yes! Ah, and after the dust settles, a kindly musketeer gives Chat a gift. His musketeer hat! Don’t worry, Chat. You’ll grow into it. From that day on Chat, Nathaniel, and Kim dreamed of being great musketeers! Ah, but as the years passed, their dream was still as far away as always. For you see, before their dreams can come true, our three heroes must first learn the real meaning of the Musketeer creed, ‘All For One, and One For All!’” _

  
  


Chat Noir rolled over, curling tighter in on his small frame as the cold from the damp stone beneath him seeped through his thin clothes and chilled him straight to the bone. Small gloved fingers burrowed deeper into his armpits, seeking any shred of warmth they could find, while his knees pulled ever closer to his chin. Wakefulness dogged at his heels, but the boy fought against it every step of the way. Sleep was comfort, security.  Consciousness was pain, hunger, and abject disappointment. Unfortunately, the cold grasp of the morning’s chill was persistent, burning at his exposed cheeks and nose until his eyes finally fluttered open and a soft groan escaped him. The hunger pangs that slammed into him were immediate. They gnawed at his stomach, tearing him apart from the inside out, explosive grumble after explosive grumble. There would be no returning to sleep anytime soon; not until he took care of his hunger first.

The boy sat up, shaggy blonde hair falling over green eyes dulled with sleep, and allowed his gaze to track over the gutter he called home. Nearby, he could make out the thin forms of his two best friends, huddled together for warmth as they slept peacefully on in the gloom of the gutter. Nathaniel, distinguished easily by the shock of red hair atop his head, rolled over in his sleep, showing the small black kitten curled up beside him. Plagg, he and Nathaniel had named the animal. Kim had pointed out that they hardly needed another mouth to feed when they could barely feed themselves, but in the end, the blond and the redhead won the majority vote and thus, Plagg became one of the team. Speaking of, they needed food. Chat couldn’t quite recall the last time that they had eaten, but the way his stomach was protesting, he guessed it had been quite some time. A few days, maybe.

Heaving himself to his feet, the seven-year-old boy winced as his body ached and protested from sleeping on the cold stones for so long. He thought about waking his two pals, but sleep was something they didn’t get nearly enough of, especially when winter approached. He could manage scavenging for food by himself today. Dusting himself off, Chat left the small area where they had set up camp, far enough away from any of the entrances that they wouldn’t be blasted with chilly air constantly. It was still cold, but at least they weren’t being frozen to death every night. Not yet, at least. He really needed to get his hands on some warmer clothes for the trio, maybe even some blankets. But for now, food was the main thing on his mind. Finally reaching the nearest ladder that led up to the surface, Chat reached up to grab one of the ladder rungs, only to have a soft  _ meow _ halt him. Chat’s green eyes shifted back the way he’d come and down to the skinny black kitten blinking up at him with wide, equally green eyes.

_ Meow _ , Plagg said.

“Stay here, Plagg,” Chat said, “it isn’t safe.”

_ Meow _ , Plagg persisted.

“You could get lost, or stepped on, or… I don’t have a third thing actually, but still, just stay here, Plagg,” the boy insisted, turning away and pulling himself up the first step.

_ Meow _ , Plagg complained.  _ Meow, meow, meeeoooooooow _ .

Chat sighed, leaning his head against the cold metal rung before him, before slowly peeking under his arm at the scrawny black kitten. “You aren’t gonna stop, are you?”

_ Meow. _

“Okay, fine. You can come with me,” he groaned, hopping back down and leaning down to scoop the little cat up. “But no running off, you hear?”

_ Mrrrrow _ , Plagg purred. Rolling his eyes, Chat Noir shoved the kitten into his shirt, hoping to keep him warm and safe, and finally climbed the ladder and stepped out into the cold sunlight above. The entrance to the gutter was beneath a stone bridge, out of sight of anyone who might wonder at the comings and goings of three orphans, and Chat took a careful look around to ensure the coast was clear before pulling himself up and out of the hole. Once he was standing beneath the bridge, Plagg poked his head out of his shirt, but he didn’t try to jump out or escape in any way. Once he was sufficiently dusted off, Chat set out into town in search of food. It was early, but the town was already bustling as men headed off to work and women ran errands. Between rummaging in garbage cans, Chat found himself watching the other townsfolk. They looked so happy as they passed by, chattering idly and unaware of the dirty street urchin watching from the shadows.

Children laughed and screamed, tossing a brightly colored ball between them. A dog barked excitedly and chased after them. The children's’ mothers watched on nearby, and when one little girl tripped over her skirts, fell, and started crying, her mother was there instantly to pick her up again. Chat cocked his head, watching the scene with wide green eyes. There was a time that he vaguely remembered when  _ he _ had a mother, but she had been taken away so long ago, he could hardly recall her face. All he recalled was that he looked like her and that when she smiled, it was as radiant as the sun. Chat Noir had been orphaned when he was about five years old. His mother had gotten dreadfully sick and one day, she didn’t wake up. There was no official orphanage in the town and no one had been willing to take in the child, so he had ended up on the streets with the rest of the street urchins, begging for scraps and struggling to live day by day. Eventually, he had met up with Nathaniel and Kim and the rest, as they say, was history.

_ Mrrrow? _

The questioning meow shook the boy from his stupor and he tore his eyes away from the scene of mother comforting child to look down at the kitten. He smiled reassuringly, despite the fact that the expression felt wobbly on his face, and scratched the kitten behind one ear as he turned away. He was okay. He had Nathaniel and Kim, and now he had Plagg. Sure, he spent most nights freezing, and most days hungry… but he was resilient and he was determined to survive this rough patch. Things would be better come spring. Turning away, the boy clad in black melted back into the shadows of the alleyway and continued on in his search of food. Kim and Nate would wake soon, and he wanted to be there with something to eat by the time they woke up. He could only imagine the looks on their faces when they found food waiting for them!

It was as the sun was reaching its peak that Chat Noir finally returned to the gutter with his findings, unaware of the eyes that watched his every move as he disappeared below ground. His trip had taken longer than expected, so his two friends were already awake and waiting for him when he returned. But despite not returning before they woke, they greeted him with wide grins and playful shoves that had the boy glowing with pride, like a cat who’d just returned from a successful hunt which, in a way, he was. The boys gathered around their makeshift table and chairs, which they’d made from a couple of old milk crates that varied in size, and Chat deposited his findings in the center of the biggest one, their ‘table’. It wasn’t much. Half a loaf of stale bread that had been burned slightly and therefore unable to sell, a few apples that were more bruise than anything else, and a few scraps of meat for Plagg, but it was more food than they’d seen in over a week and the boys were practically salivating as they stared down at the foot before them.

“Let’s eat!” Kim exclaimed suddenly, and the other two boys all chorused their agreement and gathered around the makeshift table, taking seats on the smaller crates. Chat Noir, as the oldest and unofficial leader of their gang, portioned out the bread and gave each of them an apple, setting the food scraps down on the ground for Plagg, and then the trio began to dig in with gusto. It didn’t matter to them that the apples were badly bruised and pretty mushy, or that the bread was hard and tasted slightly of charcoal from the burns. It was enough to fill their bellies and that was good enough for them. The three boys were so focused on eating, they didn’t hear the scrape of boots on the ladder, the thump of men dropping down onto the cement floor of the gutter. Not until Plagg suddenly released a ferocious hiss, drawing the trio’s gaze.

“Looky what the cat dragged in, boys,” one of the men sneered, eyes narrowing above the bandana that covered the lower portion of his face. Bandits.

“Bet they’ll fetch a pretty penny on the market, boss,” another added, eyes glinting in the low light that filtered into the gutter.

“A pretty penny, indeed,” the first one said, taking a step closer. The three boys scrambled up and backed away, huddled together nervously as they stared up at the men. It was Chat who broke the silence first, standing in front of his two taller friends to glare at the bandits, despite his own fears.

“G-go away. This place is ou-ours. We w-were here first,” he said, trying to sound brave as he puffed out his chest. The bandits shared a look and chortled.

“What are you gonna do about it, kid? Hiss at me?” The third man sneered, earning another round of chuckles. The boys drew back further still, none of them knowing quite what to do. Was this the end? But no, beyond the bandits, more men descended the stairs. For a second, Chat thought they were more bandits and they were goners for sure, but then the bandits turned and cursed, drawing their swords.

“Blast! What are the Musketeers doin’ here?” One of the bandits cursed.

“By order of the King, you three are under arrest for your crimes. Come quietly,” the leader of the Musketeers ordered. 

“Bah, you’ll never take me alive,” the leader of the bandits snarled, and suddenly he attacked. The clang of sword meeting sword filled the narrow gutter, echoing loudly off the walls at the three children watched on in utter rapture. But none was more amazed than Chat Noir, the smallest but oldest of the three boys. He watched raptly, unable to tear his gaze away as the swords crashed together repeatedly, creating a metal symphony in the small place. It was beautiful, it was enchanting, like some sort of deadly dance, and Chat Noir was immediately hooked. The battle was won quickly; the Musketeers had numbers on their side and were far more skilled. The bandits were tied up and taken away, and while his men departed, the leader of the Musketeers approached the children with kind eyes and a soft smile.

“You boys okay?” He asked. The three nodded mutely, earning a soft chuckle from the man.

“I’m glad. You be more careful now from here on out,” he warned gently, turning away.

“Wait!” Chat called, reaching out to catch the edge of his shirt in his small, gloved fingers. The man paused and looked over his shoulder at the small boy. “How do you become a Musketeer?” The child asked, green eyes shining with interest.

The man looked over the three scrawny, dirty, underfed boys and his eyes crinkled with his kind smile. “You just gotta believe in yourself and your friends here, son. There has never been just  _ one _ Musketeer. Our saying is ‘All For One and One For All’ for a reason. We lend each other strength and pick up the slack in areas that others aren’t too skilled at. Work together, and I believe you three can do anything you set your minds to,” the man said confidently. Almost as an afterthought, he pulled off his feathered Captain’s hat, the one with a red feather instead of a white one, and settled it atop the smallest boy’s head. It was too big and immediately fell over his green eyes, but the grin that curved the child’s lips from beneath the wide brim was unmistakable.

“Wow! Thanks, mister,” he said enthusiastically, shoving the hat up and out of his eyes to grin at the man. He grinned right back.

“ _ Au revoir _ , boys. I hope to see you at tryouts in a few years!” He said warmly, before turning and leaving the gutter. Chat Noir watched him go, admiration shining from his small, dirt-smeared face. That day sparked a turning point in our young heroes lives and gave them a dream to hold onto despite the hardships they faced through the next several years.

  
  
  


**Thirteen Years Later**

It was many years later that our heroes would get the chance to prove themselves. Having grown up orphans on the streets of Paris, it was only natural for the three men to stick together. They, along with their aging cat, were all they had in this world. Despite their closeness, the three boys differed greatly from one another in both looks and personality.  Kim was a strapping young man, tall and brave, with short dark hair and blue-gray eyes. He was the strongest of the three, the most confident and competitive, but he wasn’t the smartest tool in the shed. Nathaniel was a kind boy with a big heart. He was easily as tall as Kim, perhaps a few inches taller, but he was a beanpole compared to Kim’s muscle and durability. Nathaniel was the one you could talk to about your problems and he would always be happy to lend an ear and try to help you sort through your fears and insecurities. He was intelligent, thoughtful, and a wonderful artist. However, he greatly lacked confidence and could be extremely cowardly at times.

As for Chat Noir...well, he was a brave and dedicated hero who possessed the confidence, skill, and loyalty needed to be a true Musketeer. Unfortunately, he was a scrawny young man, shorter than most, and was over overlooked due to is diminutive stature. They were quite the group, those three, but in a world that was deadset on keeping them down, they had each other and their old black cat and that was all that mattered. As they grew older, the boys eventually found jobs working in the barracks. Not as Musketeers, mind you, but they cleaned and did laundry and shined shoes and generally kept the place spick and span. Oftentimes, the boys would find themselves sitting by the windows and staring out over the training yard, watching the Musketeers and dreaming of the day that they, too, would go on daring adventures with one another. But alas, it seemed it would never be for the trio seemed cursed and wherever they went, disaster was sure to follow. Chat Noir refused to give up, however, for he often looked back to that day in their youth when the bandits had attacked them and the Musketeers had leaped to their defense and he vowed that one day, it would be  _ him _ saving people, as opposed to being saved.

What he didn’t realize at the time, was that his day would arrive much sooner than he expected. For you see the leader of the Musketeers, Captain Gabriel, was an evil, greedy man with a nefarious plan; a plan to kidnap the young Princess and take the crown for himself. To accomplish this task, Captain Gabriel called upon his three henchmen: Nathalie, Gorilla, and Andre. The Captain ordered his henchmen to capture the Princess and lock her away in the tower where she might never be found, but somewhere his orders got lost in translation and instead the men attempted to kill the Princess! When their attempt inevitably failed, the Princess decided to approach Captain Gabriel in order to procure a bodyguard that would keep her safe from any future attempts, and thus begins our story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lemme Know What You Think!

**Author's Note:**

> Let Me Know What You Think!


End file.
